Meta

I love my job because of all the feedback I get from readers. This blog extends my readership across the country.

Just when I think I’ve heard everything, someone sends me another horror story that stretches my incredulity.

Want to hear about major billing errors? Check the stories below from customers of President’s Choice Financial and Rogers.

What it’s like to work for a company that abuses its customers? Check the story below from a former Bloomex employee.

What if you need a loan and you’re rejected because of problems with your credit rating, caused by a credit bureau’s errors? Check the story below from someone who’s frustrated with Equifax.

Finally, there’s Summitt Energy, my new best friend. I must get daily horror stories about how this energy marketer operates. Now it’s into replacing water heaters. See a customer’s lament posted below.

12 comments

HK, using a free PCF banking account to deposit that big of a cheque, at the ATM I assume? You’re an idiot, no offense. Can’t afford a free bank account at any other bank that allows you to make those deposits in person, where you can verify the transaction to a penny? But no, you trusted some kid getting paid $12/hr in some processing center somewhere far, far away to process your $120,000 cheque without a single flaw, among millions of other cheques they process every day. Yeah, good job.

RS & EP, call Rogers Customer Relations dept at 1.866.897.3008 or 1.888.936.7283 (one of those should still be active). If they can’t help you, you should learn a lesson too – never trust Rogers with your credit card, as they will “bill first, ask questions later”. But hey, you want the points…

DZ, learn the hard way – stop asking for credit and live within your means instead. Meaning, save up money and when you have enough of it to buy that new car, then do it instead (not only will you never have to deal with a Credit Bureau but you will save yourself a ton of money in interest payments as well). But hey, you wanna live off of the credit and keep paying interest to some rich banker out there for that immediate luxury of a new car, you suck it up and deal with the Equifax mistake somehow. I purchased a home and 3 cars in the last 10 years without ever stepping a foot into a banker’s office asking for a mortgage, loan or financing of any sort. And I have no idea what’s in my credit report (for all I know, I could be bankrupt or owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone, according to them… doesn’t impact me at all).

One of their shysters happened to be canvassing the neighbourhood while I was in my garage. When he noticed me he tried to pass himself as someone working for Direct Energy and said that he needs access to my water heater because they were “upgrading” the entire area to more efficient models. I told him my water heater is a year old and if he’s working with Direct Energy, why won’t DE be doing the inspection themselves?

Once he realized I was on to his lie and I asked him more questions about the company he works for, he conceded they were competing with Direct Energy and not actually working on their behalf. I told him rather politely to get lost and never come back.

I told Ellen the story and surely enough I got a call back from their executive office a few days later. They wanted to know if I remembered the individual’s name and if I could describe his appearance. They also promised to add my address to their “do not solicit” list, probably figuring that once the person living there is on to their scam, there’s no point coming back to the same place.

She also tried to explain that the company always calls the customer back to confirm the agreement so that there are no misunderstandings. Of course, given that it’s only a call, what happens if they miss the person? Does the contract not become valid until they reach the individual by telephone? What if they get someone else on the phone to confirm the contract? Do they go over the cancellation fees? Apparently these companies believe that a simple phone call is more than enough to confirm the sales pitch. Pure scammers!

I can definitely relate putting up with fraudulent misrepresentations and some of these shysters can be very persuasive with an individual who doesn’t know better, hence the many complaints that appear on this website.

Well bully for you. I’m glad you could pay cash for your home and your vehicles. Most people can’t, especially in a city as expensive as Toronto.

Maybe you’re a trust fund baby, or lived for years with your mom and dad so you could save to buy a home and cars with cash, or maybe you live in a one room roach infested dump that cost you peanuts and drive rusty beaters, or maybe you’re a 90 year-old curmudgeon with an ax to grind. Who knows, who cares?

At least DZ is aware, and is attempting to rectify any errors on his credit report. Maybe you don’t care what’s on your credit report, but intelligent, savvy people do know and care about their personal financial data. In some cases, that’s the only way they discover they’ve been a victim of identity theft.